Hundreds of football games have been released over the past few decades, with the likes of FIFA (now FC), Pro Evolution Soccer, and Football Manager dominating the scene for the most part. But beyond those serious simulations with a real love for the game, there are also many more obscure titles that have hit the pitch. No, not the likes of Ronaldo’s V-Football or Mario Strikers; we’re going into a far deeper niche than that. We’re talking games starring action-platforming heroes, and those born out of real-world bitterness. These are the weirdest soccer games you probably didn’t know existed.
Ever find yourself playing Super Mario World and thinking to yourself, “I really wish I was controlling English football legend David Beckham right now”? Well, Go! Go! Beckham! Adventure on Soccer Island might be the game for you. A 2D platformer for the Game Boy Advance, you step into the studded boots of the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder to save the fantastical Soccer Island from the evil Mister Woe’s reign of terror. He’s transformed every animal into monsters, and it's David’s job to use his impeccable ball skills to save the day. Made by Denki — a studio formed by David Jones, one of the original creators of Grand Theft Auto — it’s bonkers, and, perhaps most surprisingly, not actually that bad.
Inazuma Eleven is a collection of RPGs from Ni No Kuni and Professor Layton developer Level-5 that ditches turn-based combat and puzzle-solving for on-pitch action. Each game in the long-running series could find a place on this list due to each having its own quirks, but we’ve gone for Inazuma Eleven Go, the start of a fresh trilogy, and a game that sees a school soccer team step up to take down the authoritarian “Holy Emperor” and free football from his oppression.
After a decade-long gap between mainline entries, Inazuma Eleven recently escaped its DS and 3DS prison with the release of Victory Road on all modern consoles in 2025. Check them out if you’ve ever fancied saving the world, taking down evil organisations, and time-traveling through the power of football.
Some people choose to forgive and forget. Others choose vengeance through pointedly titled software. In 1986, Diego Maradona punched the ball into the net to send England packing from the World Cup. Just months later, a game for the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and Commodore 64 was released called Peter Shilton’s Handball Maradona, named after the English goalkeeper who watched as the legendary Argentinian cheated his way to glory. Not only is the title funny, but Handball Maradona’s mechanical approach itself is rather unique among football games, since you can only ever play as a keeper. You don’t even get to play full matches, either, but are instead shuttled through a series of preset scenarios that you’ll have to defend against, such as penalties and corners. I’m not sure why you’d want to play it, but I appreciate the bitterness it was born out of, all the same.
RedCard asks the question: “What if you could break a player in half and get away with it in professional football?” The answer arrives with a crunch. For the most part, this PS2, Xbox, and GameCube game is a mediocre football sim. But where things differ is when the referee turns a blind eye to any strong tackles you may choose to commit that would otherwise see you get sent off. Throw in some more arcadey elements, such as being able to charge up a meter that, when full, allows you to perform special moves like flying kicks into another player’s skull, and you have a good dose of silly fun on your hands. Plus, the cover over here in Europe featured an enjoyable recreation of Vinnie Jones grabbing Paul Gascoigne by the nether regions. FIFA would never.
Released for the SNES in 1994, Mega Man Soccer is technically a sequel to Mega Man 4, and sees Dr Wily’s robot masters from the previous games return to take the place of all the players on a football pitch. It’s then once again down to Mega Man to put things right and save the sport that we all love from Wily’s evil plans. Along the way, he’ll have to team up with some of Dr Light’s versions of the robot masters and utilise their special attacks, such as Air Man’s Tornado Shot and Wood Man’s Leaf Shot, which smartly blend the series’ action-platforming roots with football. Does it all come together? Not entirely, but it’s a relic of a time when Mega Man was much more in step with Mario.
It may be borderline unbelievable, but once upon a time, footballer-turned-commentator Chris Kamara had his own video game. And it's his vocal talents that he lends to Chris Kamara’s Street Soccer, as he comments on every goal in this precursor to FIFA Street. It’s a small, silly five-a-side football game that features out-there locations from around the world, like Easter Island and Death Valley, without ever really giving any reason as to why teams would play the beautiful game there. A budget release for the original PlayStation, it harkens back to an era of football games when it felt like anyone could get their name on a cover — yes, even you, David O’Leary — but maybe none were quite as left-field as Chris Kamara’s Street Soccer.
If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing Ultraman smash a finish past a flying King Ghidorah and into the top corner, then boy do I have the game for you. A Japanese exclusive, Battle Soccer: Field No Hasha pits squads of some of the country’s most famous fictional characters against each other, with teams such as the Gundam Warriors, King’s Soldiers, and Super Beasts fighting it out on the football pitch. Realism wasn’t the name of the game here on the Famicom, but for those who seek delight in seeing Godzilla blasting a ball with his atomic ray before sending it toward another kaiju opponent, there was plenty of silly fun to be had.
“At last, football’s answer to Sonic the Hedgehog,” the world cried when Soccer Kid was originally released on the Amiga in 1993. At least, it probably did, anyway. A side-scrolling platformer in which the titular Soccer Kid runs and jumps his way around the globe, kicking his trusty football into foes and treasure chests, it's become somewhat of a cult favourite over the years. A highly challenging adventure at times — but shouldn’t any mission to recover scattered pieces of the World Cup from an alien pirate be difficult, anyway? — it's one of the few games, alongside Go! Go! Beckham! Adventure on Soccer Island, that cleverly uses the fundamentals of football outside of the pitch itself.
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
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